Monday, October 12, 2009

You inspire me....

I want to share with you four projects. Each brings beauty, sheds light, and creates community in honorable and innovative ways. All these people are using their significant talents to foster good. Two originate close to home, the others from further away. All are superbly executed and creatively engaging. Initiatives we can all be proud to support.

From textile artist and environmental strategist Sasha Duerr, the Permacouture Institute, an educational non-profit for "regenerative design in fashion and textiles", promoting "healthy integration between nature and culture". One of Sasha's best ideas is an event she calls (with tongue firmly planted in cheek...) "Dinner to Dye For", an enlightening and fun marriage of the Slow Textiles and Slow Food movements. I think this is something that could be beautifully replicated here in Portland.

Anyone one who's been reading this blog knows by now that John Bielenberg (of Belfast, Maine!) is one of my heroes. His "Project M" is an immersion program that inspires young designers to use their skills and talents to positively impact the culture, one community at a time. PieLab, based in Greensboro, Alabama (home to Sam Mockbee's Rural Studio), is a pop-up experimental pie shop which hopes to foster conversation between neighbors in this rural, southern town "by uncovering the ideas, stories, aspirations, and talents of this underserved community." They are moving to a new space on the Main Street, and are asking for investment in this worthwhile endeavor.

From Portland, Maine based writer/photographers Peter Smith and Natalie Conn a documentary project called "The Sunday Best", an homage to "ordinary people doing extraordinary things". Each Sunday (hence the name), they feature a member of this community through narrative and portraiture. Think multimedia Studs Terkel. An integral part of this project is to find out if the public will support it. Please do.

Lastly, I want to honor my dear friend, artist Sara Lemieux, for her commitment and devotion to "The Barrio Planta Project" in Managua, Nicaragua. She's teaching art, dance, and English to children in this impoverished region, volunteering her time and myriad talents during the month of October.

1 comment:

Thank you for these links. I especially loved learning about dying fabrics with food. I have a collection of vintage slips that I've been wanting to dye for a while. Now I am pumped to try it out this weekend.